Frontier Market Scouts Return from Summer Adventures in Four Continents

The Frontier Market Scouts program at the Monterey Institute selects and trains aspiring professionals who are seeking a career in social venture and impact investing. This year, the program has placed over 20 people in 13 countries, working with social enterprises, impact investment funds and social accelerator programs for a period of two to six months.

Over the summer, eight graduate students or recent graduates of Columbia University, the University of Virginia, American University, the University of Washington, Syracuse University, the University of Michigan and the Monterey Institute worked on social venture and impact investment projects in four continents.

The program, jointly developed and managed by the Monterey Institute, Sanghata Global and Village Capital, aims to turn compassionate and capable young professionals into talent scouts and investment managers serving local entrepreneurs and social-minded investors in low-income and weak-capital regions of the world. As Jennifer Clessas (MPA '13), who served as a Frontier Market Scout in Bogotá, Colombia, explains: "Going through the FMS training and going on assignment was an invaluable experience for me, as it has really opened my eyes to a new field that I hope to continue working in."